BILL NUMBER: S1977
SPONSOR: MURRAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the legislative law and the executive law, in relation
to establishing a moratorium on unfunded mandates and establishing
mandate relief councils; and providing for the repeal of such provisions
upon expiration thereof
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To place a three-year moratorium on any unfunded state mandates on local
governments and school districts and to create 10 Regional Mandate
Relief Councils to review existing mandates and make recommendations to
the Governor and the Legislature for the repeal or modification of any
regulatory or statutory unfunded mandates that the council determines
were imposed on a local government or school district in an unsound,
unduly burdensome or costly manner.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new section 51-a to the Legislative Law to place a
three-year moratorium on unfunded state mandates on local governments
and school districts costing more than $10,000 annually or $1 million
statewide.
Section two adds a new article 43 to the Executive Law to establish 10
Regional Mandate Relief Councils across the state. The Members of the
Regional Councils must be residents of the region they are appointed to
represent. The Governor and the four legislative leaders get one
appointment each, and additional members are appointed by local govern-
ments and statewide organizations. Regional Councils would have the
authority to review and recommend changes and, in some cases, direct the
modification or repeal of state government regulations.
Section three is a severability clause.
Section four provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
It has been said, "When people complain about high taxes in New York,
they're talking about the property tax." While the reasons behind New
York's high property taxes often are debated, it is clear that the
plethora of unfunded mandates placed on local governments and school
districts are one of the main reasons New Yorkers must pay an unreason-
able amount of their hard-earned money for owning or renting property in
the state.
It is past time we start getting our unfunded mandate problem under
control and we must act now as local governments deal with population
loss and rising inflation. This legislation would implement a three-year
unfunded mandate moratorium, and create 10 regional mandate relief coun-
cils designed to identify, modify and eliminate the costly mandates that
drive up property taxes. This legislation also would force the governor
to act on recommendations made by a majority of the regional councils.
What may make sense for one region of the state, many times does not
make sense for all other regions. There needs to be a regional approach
in examining which mandates are unnecessary or unduly burdensome. The
state of New York is vastly different from region to region. The local
members of the regional mandate relief councils will be voices for their
local communities. They will be able to examine and present their analy-
sis and recommendations as to which mandates should be modified or
repealed, if any, while taking the specific geographic and socioeconomic
factors of their region under consideration.
By passing this law, New Yorkers would begin to see a decrease in their
annual property tax bills, and would finally see the fiscal relief they
so rightly deserve.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S4904 - Referred to Finance
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This legislation could provide savings to local governments and school
districts.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed
repealed 3 years after such date, provided, however, that section one of
this act shall only apply to laws enacted after such date.